The sixth Celtic Colours International Festival opened with a bang last night at Centre 200 in Sydney. Artists in Residence Margaret Bennett and Jerry Holland got things underway in fine style with a lovely Gaelic song and a blast of tunes.
J.P. Cormier and Hilda Chiasson-Cormier kept the energy up as J.P. went through an awesome display of mastery over stringed instruments.
A carefully-kilted Phil Cunningham closed the first half of the show accompanied on fiddle by an equally kilted Duncan Chisholm and a sharply-suited Malcom Stitt on guitar.
Fraya Thomsen and Fiona Hunter, students at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow, Scotland entertained in the main concourse during intermission.
The second half of the show introduced fiddler Liz Carroll. With Tracey Dares-MacNeil on piano, Liz made the fiddle sing.
Raylene Rankin brought the crowd to its feet. Accompanied on guitar by Clarence Deveau, Raylene¹s voice filled the arena as she sang a number of songs in English and Gaelic, at one point inviting fiddler Mairi Rankin and piano player Mac Morin (from Beòlach) to join her on stage. Raylene ended her set with one of the Rankin Family¹s greatest hits, Rise Again, and the entire audience rose to their feet in appreciation.
A standing ovation is a hard act to follow but Sharon Shannon was up to the challenge. Sharon sat on stage in a semi-circle with her mandolin-playing sister Mary Shannon and guitarist Jim Murray and they went mad at the tunes. A beautifully sung song by Pauline Scanlon capped off the set and had the show ended there, everyone would have left satisfied. But this is Celtic Colours, where the tunes never seem to end.
Masters of Ceremony Laurel Munroe and Ian McNeil returned to the stage to invite all the performers out for a grand finale. Cape Breton fiddler Howie MacDonald happened to be backstage so he joined the crowd on stage for a Gaelic song and bunch of tunes. 
While Jillian Head was stepping it up centre stage, Howie spotted Nova Scotia¹s Minister of Tourism and Culture Rodney MacDonald in the front row. Being a fiddler and a step dancer himself, Rodney delighted all in attendance as he took Howie¹s invitation and joined him centre stage for a couple of steps.
"I was moved to tears twice last night," says Festival Director Max MacDonald of the Opening Gala concert. "The joy of emotions I experienced at that show, hearing the music, reminded me of why we do what we do; why we work at this all year. Sometimes you can get lost in the organization of it, but then the music makes it all worth it."
The music continues until October 19 with shows and workshops in dozens of communities all over Cape Breton Island.
